Source Of Security
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By -
A couple of weeks ago during the process of the government bailout of our financial institutions, I was reminded of two American patriarchs, Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson.
Hamilton, the "Big Government" Federalist, wanted to see control of the people's money in the hands of the central/federal government. Jefferson, the "States Rights" Anti-Federalist, for fear of losing control and authority of his Virginia plantation said, "Not so fast, Alex!" The constitution basically upholds the notion that the government should only do for the people what the people can not do for themselves. In other words, the government that governs best governs least.
Anti-federalists (Republican, Democrat, Libertarian and Independent) then and now believe that the citizen (with the help of God) is best able to handle his own money and his own property. The government should keep its hands out of our banks and out of our pockets.
President Bush today announced that the government was not now nationalizing our free market banking system but that hard times demand hard measures. When he said that the extent of the government's reach would be limited and well defined and that it would be simply for a brief time, it sounded as if he were speaking to the Supreme Court rather than to the people. Frankly none of us can predict what the court will do when it is faced with the "case and controversy" that comes before it. And much of that will be determined, politically speaking, depending on whether the High Court takes the case before or after the general election.
A great American jurist once said that "great cases, like bad cases, make bad law." We had better listen to Oliver Wendell Holmes. Difficult economic times make for bad economic policies. What the government takes from the people, the government will likely not return.
We have all heard of devastating illnesses which if not treated radically and immediately could well result in the death of the patient. There may be a cancer in our free market economic system that truly does require immediate attention. But most of us also know that there are times when the cure may be worse than the disease. We must beware of political and economic expediencies and the attempt of men to cover culpability for their crimes against society by rushing to a cure from which the patient may well not survive.
Praying that we, individually and corporately, will return to the source of all security.
Bob Shearer
Pierceton, via e-mail[[In-content Ad]]
A couple of weeks ago during the process of the government bailout of our financial institutions, I was reminded of two American patriarchs, Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson.
Hamilton, the "Big Government" Federalist, wanted to see control of the people's money in the hands of the central/federal government. Jefferson, the "States Rights" Anti-Federalist, for fear of losing control and authority of his Virginia plantation said, "Not so fast, Alex!" The constitution basically upholds the notion that the government should only do for the people what the people can not do for themselves. In other words, the government that governs best governs least.
Anti-federalists (Republican, Democrat, Libertarian and Independent) then and now believe that the citizen (with the help of God) is best able to handle his own money and his own property. The government should keep its hands out of our banks and out of our pockets.
President Bush today announced that the government was not now nationalizing our free market banking system but that hard times demand hard measures. When he said that the extent of the government's reach would be limited and well defined and that it would be simply for a brief time, it sounded as if he were speaking to the Supreme Court rather than to the people. Frankly none of us can predict what the court will do when it is faced with the "case and controversy" that comes before it. And much of that will be determined, politically speaking, depending on whether the High Court takes the case before or after the general election.
A great American jurist once said that "great cases, like bad cases, make bad law." We had better listen to Oliver Wendell Holmes. Difficult economic times make for bad economic policies. What the government takes from the people, the government will likely not return.
We have all heard of devastating illnesses which if not treated radically and immediately could well result in the death of the patient. There may be a cancer in our free market economic system that truly does require immediate attention. But most of us also know that there are times when the cure may be worse than the disease. We must beware of political and economic expediencies and the attempt of men to cover culpability for their crimes against society by rushing to a cure from which the patient may well not survive.
Praying that we, individually and corporately, will return to the source of all security.
Bob Shearer
Pierceton, via e-mail[[In-content Ad]]
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